Journalism Program - B.A.
Welcome!
The Journalism Program is part of the School of Communications within the College of Social Sciences.
The Journalism program is professionally oriented, but it seeks to do much more than just help students develop the ability to report, write and edit with professional competence. The goal is to produce graduates with knowledge and understanding that will enable them to make useful contributions in their chosen fields, to grow in the careers they undertake and to work toward continually higher standards.
Assignments in journalism courses contribute to knowledge and understanding of public institutions and public issues. They call on students to critically analyze and organize information and to make judgments.
The program also prepares students to produce stories and communicate across multiple media platforms. See the students' website: http://blog.hawaii.edu/neojourno. Many students work at Ka Leo, the campus newspaper and website.
Also check out the Journalism Program's Campus Connections TV series.
Undergraduate Program Information
Journalism education develops the student's ability to gather, analyze and organize information, and to communicate it clearly, effectively and responsibly using multiple media platforms. Journalism education embraces the social, cultural and historic contexts of reporting on public and social institutions as well as on individuals and groups. It stresses the importance of a free, vigorous and responsible press to the maintenance of an informed citizenry in order to exercise the rights of self- governance in a democracy. Students learn how journalists also contribute to life-long learning through reports that enlighten and enliven audiences, whether in print, broadcast, online or other new media formats. The Journalism degree program is professional in its orientation and accepts a limited number of students each Fall into a two-year program. Admission to the major requires at least sophomore standing with at least two more years of study and a minimum 3.0 GPA or adviser consent. Majors should follow the prescribed course sequencing to remain in the program. Students are encouraged to work for campus media such as Ka Leo O Hawaii or KTUH-FM news and to participate in an extensive program of professional internships.
Advising
Advising is mandatory for all Journalism majors.
Undergraduate Study
Bachelor's Degree Requirements:
- Admission to the major is restricted to students with at least sophomore standing with at least two more years of study and a 3.0 GPA or adviser consent. Admission in Fall semester only.
- 33 credit hours in Journalism courses, following a prescribed sequence.
- All students enrolled in Journalism classes requiring off-campus assignments must sign a University of Hawaii Waiver Form— Assumption of Risk and Release.
Required Courses:
- JOUR 301 Fundamentals of Journalism
- JOUR 302 Journalism Tools & Platforms
- JOUR 401 Journalism Projects/Production
- JOUR 402 Intellectual Foundations
- JOUR 365 Media and the Law
- JOUR 460 Media Ethics
- 3 credits of electives or internship (JOUR 485)
Note:
The cycle of courses for starting a Journalism major begins in the Fall Semester, as that is the only time the required foundations course (JOUR 301) is offered. The next course in the sequence, JOUR 302, is only offered in the Spring semester. These two courses form the required foundation for the second year, senior-level courses. With rare exceptions, transfer students, regardless of previous journalism coursework taken elsewhere, must qualify for admittance to the major and complete the entire cycle of UHM Journalism courses.